Oliverio Guillermo Martínez de Hoyos (January 30, 1901 – January 21, 1938) was a Mexican sculptor.

Biography

Oliverio Martínez was born in born in

Piedras Negras Piedras Negras may refer to: * Piedras Negras, Coahuila, a city in the state of Coahuila, Mexico ** Piedras Negras Municipality, a municipality in Mexico, with the center in the eponymous city * Piedras Negras (Maya site) Piedras Negras is the ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, in 1901. Several of his 15 siblings also went into the arts, including the painter

Ricardo Martínez de Hoyos Ricardo Martínez de Hoyos (October 28, 1918 – January 11, 2009) was a Mexican painter noted for his figurative work on unreal atmospheres. He was one of several children from a very large family to make a mark in his field, along with Oliveri ...

. Starting in 1925, he lived in New York, working for

Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México ''Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México'' (better known as N de M and after 1987 as Ferronales or FNM) or ''National Railways of Mexico'' was Mexico's state owned railroad company from 1938 to 1998, and prior to 1938 (dating from the regime of P ...

. Then, in 1927, he became a workshop assistant at Escuela de Escultura y Talla Directa. He studied at Mexico City's Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes from 1928 to 1930. As a member of the so-called Mexican School of Sculpture, he participated in a rebirth of sculptural discourse in Mexico alongside Ruiz Reyes, Carlos Bracho, and others. He studied under Bracho and Luiz Ortiz Monasterio. In 1930, he began working on large-format sculptures in collaboration with Ernesto Tamariz. By 1932, he had gained recognition for his monument to

Emiliano Zapata Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; 8 August 1879 – 10 April 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the insp ...

in Cuautla.{{Cite web , title=Zapata de Oliverio G. Martínez en Museo Blaisten , url=https://museoblaisten.com/Obra/2171/Zapata , access-date=2023-03-13 , website=Collección Blaisten In November 1933, a committee began considering proposals for Mexico City's

Monumento a la Revolución The Monument to the Revolution () is a memorial arch commemorating the Mexican Revolution. It is located in the Plaza de la República, near the heart of the major thoroughfares Paseo de la Reforma and Avenida de los Insurgentes in downtown M ...

, a major landmark commemorating the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

. Martínez ''Transformación'' was named one of the finalists alongside proposals by Federico Canessi and Fernando Leal. After creating life-size 11-meter models of his four proposed sculptures—''La Independencia'', ''Las Leyes de Reforma'', ''Las Leyes Agrarias'', and ''Las Leyes Obrera'', Martínez won the competition and contributed the sculptures to the structure. In 1936, Martínez became interim director of the Escuela de Escultura y Talla Directa. Working in New York a decade earlier, he had contracted debilitating

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, and he died in Mexico City at the young age of 36.

Notable works

* Sculpture of Emilio Carranza in

Saltillo Saltillo () is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and is also the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. Mexico City, Monterrey, and Saltillo are all connected by a major railroad and high ...

(1930) * Sculpture of Emiliano Zapata in Cuautla (1932) * Sculptures ''La Independencia'', ''Las Leyes de Reforma'', ''Las Leyes Agrarias'', and ''Las Leyes Obrera'' on the

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

(1934)

References

1901 births 1938 deaths Mexican male artists Mexican sculptors People from Piedras Negras, Coahuila 20th-century Mexican sculptors